


and i crash my car 'cause i wanna get carried away

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mechanics, Bad Flirting, Cars, Hot Mechanics AU, Multi, Muscle Shirts, author knows Nothing about cars, bb-8 is a dog, booty shorts, not yet but there will be i promise, or good flirting depending on your preferred Flirting Style idk, poe & rey have an established relationship bc i said so, specifically a girl dog bc i said so, this fic is bc i said so, workplace health & safety misconduct
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-12 09:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5661850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn cursed his luck for finding a workshop with not one, but two mechanics with incredible smiles. Fumbling with his keys, he wondered (just as a matter of interest) whether it was considered acceptable to date the people who service your car.<br/><br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> title from "[i wanna get better](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A81Z6hGjGJQ)"!
> 
> beta'd by [officialhoedameron](http://officialhoedameron.tumblr.com), who is a Champion
> 
> come visit me on [tumblr!](http://www.poefinnrev.tumblr.com)  
> 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Finn meets a dog, and also two cute mechanics.

Finn had a fairly nice car. It was white and chunky (he always forgot the make) and it ran without too many complications, especially given it was, essentially, a secondhand castoff from an ex-colleague of a sister of an acquaintance's friend who sold it to him for cheap.  
  
Or at least, it had been nice, before he’d left it unattended outside a cafe for all of ten minutes.  Most of it was still white; however, there was now a significant portion of the left side that had the paint scraped off, revealing the grey metal underneath. The wing mirror was clinging on by a wire, and Finn sighed at the dings that’d been left on the door. Whoever had driven past and scraped him was clearly in a hurry, though; there was no note with contact details, or even a few dollar notes tucked under his wipers to help with the cost.  
  
The nearest mechanic wasn't too far, according to his phone. As he pulled into the lot (a rather stereotypical car shop – a solid, slightly rusty warehouse on a dry concrete slab, surrounded by a tall chain-link fence), he took in the few cars parked there already. Given their state of good repair, he assumed they belonged to the mechanics. One was a angular thing - white and orange paint; sleek and serious-looking. Another, though spotless and obviously well-loved, looked like a piece of junk; mostly dark grey, it gave the distinct impression it had been put through a long life of hard use. Several other nondescript sedans were parked next to an equally nondescript tow-truck on the other side of the lot, opposite the warehouse entrance. Finn parked his car beside it.  
  
Upon getting out of his car, he was greeted by the jingling noise of a dog's collar as a stocky red-and-white dog barrelled out of the half-open garage door towards him. He reached down to the pup, who shoved her head under his hand for a pat, making odd little high-pitched yips and whines in her glee. Finn straightened up as the main door opened.  
  
"BB-8! Leave the poor guy alone!" A young woman in an orange shirt stepped out. The dog wagged her tail and ignored her in favour of running a circle around Finn; the woman blew a wisp of hair out of her eyes and stomped over. "Sorry about her," she said, gripping BB-8 by the collar and pulling her to heel. "She's rather excitable."  
  
"It's fine; she's pretty cute," said Finn. "BB-8?"

"Baby Bark," she explained, not a flicker of embarrassment on her face. "Eight, because it took Poe eight tries to guess what 'BB' stood for before he gave up."  
  
Finn laughed, unsure how to respond to this. He glanced at the logo on her shirt: it matched the battered sign above the garage door. "Um, I was actually looking to get my car fixed. You work here, right?"  
  
The woman – Rey, according to her name-tag – glanced rather pointedly down at the logo on her shirt, then back at Finn. "Yes. What's wrong with it?"  
  
"It's broken," Finn said helpfully. Both Rey and BB-8 looked at him. "I mean, it got scraped. And the side mirror broke."  
  
Rey raised an eyebrow as she strode over to Finn's car. "How'd that happen?" she asked, inspecting the sheared-off mirror.  
  
Finn shrugged. "I had it parked on the street while I got a coffee. Came out and it was like this, so I guess someone brushed it while they drove past. Is it bad?" he asked, a little anxiously, feeling like he was talking about an injury to a person more than a dinged-up car.  
  
Rey shook her head as BB-8 began a thorough analysis of the car's tyres. "Nah, shouldn't take too long to fix up. I'll have to get Poe to do it, though; I'm working on an engine problem from earlier, and he's the one for bodywork. I'm more interested in the inner mechanics," she added, with a grin that lit up her entire face. Finn noticed that she had a constellation of freckles across the bridge of her nose and the tops of her cheeks that disappeared into the lines of her wrinkled-up nose. Finn smiled back, without thinking, and he felt his stomach flutter.  
  
Oh my god, Finn thought. BB-8 butted up against his leg, and he bent down to pat her before he started staring, or giggling, or something. That's one _hell_ of a smile.  
  
In the meantime, Rey had produced a clipboard from somewhere and was busily scribbling at it with a much-chewed pencil as she squinted at the damage. “What’s your insurance policy?”  
  
Finn frowned. Car insurance was something that he was certain he had, but that’s about as much as he could remember. Rey took in his confused look. “You’ve probably got details in an email somewhere. Check your phone,” she suggested.  
  
“Right, yes,” Finn said, thumbing at his phone for a minute before resurfacing triumphant; he rattled off the details as Rey wrote them down.  
  
Once that was done, Rey nodded. “Yeah – Finn, right?” She checked what she’d written. “Yep, this is covered by your current plan. I’ll go fetch Poe to talk to you about the specifics. Would you mind waiting here?” She flashed him another smile, leaving Finn entirely dazzled. He wondered if she smiled twice ( _twice!_ ) at all the customers, or just him. He let himself believe it was just him, because damn, that smile made him feel pretty special.  
  
BB-8 stayed next to Finn, enjoying the attention, while Rey went back to the garage. A few moments later, a tall man in a similar shirt – presumably Poe – appeared, causing BB-8 to wiggle with delight and leave Finn to jump at Poe’s legs. Poe laughed; even from several metres away, the brilliance of his smile was visible, and Finn cursed his luck for finding a workshop with not one, but two mechanics with incredible smiles. What the _fuck_.  
  
“Down, girl! Hey, buddy, I’m Poe,” he added, calling to Finn as he walked over. “So, a broken mirror and some minor dents? I should be able to get that fixed up pretty quick.”  
  
Finn breathed a quiet sigh of relief – which was cut off when Poe made a concerned noise as he bent to take a look at the mirror. “What’s wrong?”  
  
“Hmm,” Poe elaborated. After another half-minute of squinting and poking the damaged mirror, he straightened up. “Well, the good news is that the dents to the side are pretty minor. They look like they’ve been caused by some gravel being kicked up and hitting the door panelling. The mirror, though, seems to have had the internal mechanisms damaged – the parts of it that make it able to be moved around,” he added, at Finn’s stymied look. “That might take a few days to fix, especially since that’s Rey’s stuff, and her work queue is a little backed up at the moment. It’ll still be covered by your insurance, though, don’t worry, and we can lend you a car while we’re working on yours.”  
  
“Ah,” said Finn. He contemplated his future few days of Life Without His Car with a feeling of deep sadness, as though losing a good acquaintance. Then he realised that he’d have to come back here to return the temporary car and reclaim his own (thereby coming into contact with the very cute mechanics again) and his stomach did a happy little hop. “OK; sounds good!” he said to Poe, beaming.  
  
He realised his mistake when he caught the full blast of Poe’s grin in response, and resumed his previous death-by-smile avoidance tactic of patting BB-8.  
  
“Ah, she likes you!” Poe said, bending down too.  
  
_Shit_ , Finn thought. BB-8 wagged her tail and rolled over, evidently ecstatic at the attention as Poe rubbed her tummy. Finn sympathised. He’d probably be the same if it were him – and _wow_ , he needed to stop himself right there, because it was one thing to find the people fixing your car attractive, and another thing _entirely_ to venture down the road of Impure Thoughts.  
  
“Anyway,” Poe said, “if you want to leave the keys here and remove anything you need from your car, I’ll give you the keys to your replacement and you can get on with your day.”  
  
As Finn fumbled with his keys and collected some bits and bobs from his car, he wondered (just as a matter of interest) whether it was considered acceptable for mechanics to date their customers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [what bb-8 looks like!!](https://puppydogweb.com/gallery/bullterriers/bullterrier_baerlin.JPG)  
> [finn's car](http://images.gtcarlot.com/pictures/66279413.jpg)  
> [poe's car](http://asantiwheels.com/cms_images/gallery/img1-80010.jpg)  
> [rey's car](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Ford_Falcon_XA_GT_sedan.JPG). it's a ford falcon. do you see my joke. did you get this witty joke that i have made. do y


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Rules Of Flirting Contests are revealed, and also Rey bullies Poe (in a very loving way).

BB-8 barked whenever someone entered the lot. It sounded funny to Rey when she and Poe first got her, but she was used to it now. It was amusing to see the confusion on people’s faces at the weird beeping yips BB made, though.

This time, though, Rey recognised the car pulling into the lot: it was the one on loan to the cute guy from a few days before; so, although there would be no entertaining confusion at BB-8’s barking, she’d at least get to see him again.

“Poe!” she called into the back of the shop, withdrawing her head from the hood of her current project car – a clunky grey Ford Falcon – and wiping her hands with a greasy cloth. “That guy with the broken mirror is back!”

Poe looked up from where he was sat at the back of the shop, at their paperwork desk. “The cute one? The one that you were into – Finn?”

She threw a nearby bolt at him. It clanked off the wall above his head when he ducked. “Like I didn’t see you checking him out. Did you bite your lip at him?” She shook her head in consternation.

Poe drew himself up to his full height, obviously deeply offended, but his reply was cut off by the sound of Finn’s car door shutting. BB-8 charged out; Poe followed at a more sedate pace. Rey checked their key-drawer for the keys to Finn’s newly-repaired car. Once she had them (they were labelled; thankfully, her organisational skills were far more refined than Poe’s), she hauled the garage door open and drove Finn’s car out to them.

As Rey parked the car and got out, she could see how Poe leaned in towards Finn, and the way his head tipped back when he laughed (laying it on a little thick, in Rey’s opinion). Finn’s insurance had covered the repair, so there was no need to organise any payment, meaning that Poe was just standing out there flirting, the shit. She shut the car door a little louder than necessary, interjecting herself into the conversation; BB-8 toddled over and sat on Rey's foot.

“We ended up replacing some of the internal wiring in the mirror,” she said to Finn. “Nothing else major, though; and you’re still covered for it. Though you’d have thought it was some huge project, the way Poe was whining about having to order in the paint colour,” she added.

Poe scowled. “I didn’t _whine_ , Rey, I don’t _whine_.”

“Yes, you do; you’re worse than BB.” She put on a husky American accent. “‘But the website for ordering paint in is so _complicated_ , Rey! It means I have to do _work_!’”

“I didn’t sound like that!” Poe turned to Finn, beseechingly. “I don’t sound like that, do I? I’m much more dignified and manly.”

Finn looked like a spectator at a tennis match; head turning to follow the conversation. At Poe’s question (and unnecessarily adorable pleading face), he stammered a little. It was tricky to tell, but Rey thought she could see his cheeks darken.

“You absolutely do, _and_ you leave me to pick up the slack while you flirt with customers,” she cut in, preventing Poe from continuing to make That Face at Finn. Finn gave her a grateful smile (though he blushed further at her jab about Poe’s definite and obvious flirting).

Score one, Rey. Poe, nil. She grinned back at Finn.

“By the way, Finn, when was your last service?” Poe interrupted, with a charming grin. This caused Finn to stop smiling at Rey and look at Poe, which was deeply annoying. “If your car hasn’t had one this year, I feel obliged to tell you that we offer that here.”

Finn considered. “I can’t remember ever taking this car in for a check. So I guess I should have one soon?” He chuckled nervously at Poe, who feigned horror at his confession of automobile negligence.

Now Rey scowled. She’d intended to mention a service, before Poe had stolen her idea and won another smile off Finn for himself. The bastard. Still, she wasn’t a sore loser. Score: one all.

After Finn had driven off and they were both back in the garage, she turned to Poe. “Stop flirting with him! You said _I_ got to flirt with the next cute customer!”

Poe put his hands up and laughed in that annoying way that still made Rey’s heart kick. She grabbed a wrench from a nearby table and held it at his throat like a blade. “Don’t laugh about this, Dameron! You told me you’re a man of your word!”

He didn’t stop grinning as he allowed her to back him up against the wall. When Rey was practically pressed against him, he gently laid both hands on the wrench, pushing it down. She let him, mostly because the last time this variety of altercation happened she’d left a huge hickey high on his neck that lasted for almost a week (it necessitated the use of a horrific and hilariously ugly scarf to try to cover up, and that went rather badly, so really, she got the last laugh).

“I am a man of my word! But he’s not just _cute_ , he’s _very_ cute, and our agreement said nothing about _very_ cute customers.”

“You’re a weasel, Poe Dameron,” said Rey, unimpressed. She would have said more (perhaps regarding his general laziness, or the fact that he left an old sock in her Falcon the other day, or that he smelled like engine grease and needed to shave), but then he leant down and kissed her, so the conversation sort of ended there. She made sure to bite his lip rather hard, though.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are revenge hickeys, and Poe feels victimised.

Poe rubbed his neck ruefully. Rey had left another mark just under his ear, and it was rather tricky to hide. Judging by Rey’s smug expression whenever she saw it, that was probably her intention. By now (this was his fourth extremely obvious hickey, and frequent customers had stopped staring at him and has started giving him uncomfortable knowing looks), Poe should’ve known better than to try to end an argument by kissing her, but it was (a) a pretty effective way to stop arguing, and (b) very enjoyable, so he really just had to accept the fact that Rey would always find a way to win.

He’d kind of hoped it would fade some in the days leading up to Cute Guy Finn’s appointment for his car service, but luck had once again absolutely fucked Poe over: the mark had not faded, and Rey had moved her concealer from its usual place (probably on purpose), so he couldn’t even cover it up. After the Scarf Incident (resulting in a summary ban of all nonessential clothing items in the workshop), he definitely wasn’t going to try covering it with clothing again, so he really couldn’t do anything but grin and bear it (and vow to give Rey, like, twenty hickeys at the next opportunity).

So, as Finn pulled into the lot in his old-ass Toyota Prius-Of-Shit, Poe couldn’t really do anything but re-adjust his collar and hope for the best. Unfortunately, as soon as he got near to Finn (who was quite preoccupied with BB-8; the pup had taken quite a shine to him), he could see Finn’s eyes dart to his neck, then snap to his face and blink confusedly. Poe decided that it would be best to just ignore it; he greeted Finn with his customary enthusiasm and was rewarded with a cheerful (if somewhat more cautious) smile in response.

The service went through without a hitch: the Prius’ engine was functioning reasonably well for a car its age, and while the tires needed some re-inflation, the oil change was uneventful. Poe occupied this time by chatting with Finn, who, though a little shy to begin with, quickly relaxed into a pleasant conversation partner. Poe was quite conscious of Rey hanging around and throwing her bit into the conversation, but overall, he felt like he was in the lead, points-wise.

Then Finn, obviously having had to work up to the question (Poe had never before met someone who honest-to-god stammered when they were nervous; it was pretty adorable), decided to ask about the health of his neck, the mark upon which Rey had put there with malicious intent, as evidenced by her horrible cackling, and the fact she almost fell backwards off the workbench. Clearly, she wasn’t going to help him, so Poe cleared his throat, and said, succinctly and with great dignity: “Rey bites.”

Finn blushed. “Oh, ah, ok.”

“Did you think it was a bruise or something?” asked Rey. Were those tears of laughter in her eyes? Poe hated her.

“Well, yeah,” said Finn, obviously battling curiosity and embarrassment both. “Or grease, or something. I mean, you work in a mechanic shop, and I just…” he trailed off as Rey patted his back in mock sympathy.

She continued to exemplify her status as Horrible Person by stage-whispering to Poe: “Don’t pretend you don’t like it.”

Finn looked like he was maybe about to explode and Poe felt he had a responsibility to defuse this particular cherrybomb of a situation. “Rey, didn’t you say you had a thing you were doing with that motorbike that required urgent attention?”

Rey frowned, but conceded the point (the customer wanted its engine cleaned, like, yesterday; Rey was nearly done but still finalising), and hopped off the workbench to where the motorbike was propped.

Finn still looked conflicted; Poe raised an eyebrow in a sort of “spit it out” expression. It had taken him three weeks of eyebrow-muscle exercises with pencils to perfect that particular skill, and he tried to use it wherever he could.

“Sorry, just. Are you and Rey dating, or…?”

Poe shrugged, grinning a little, and bent to pick up a spanner Rey had knocked off the bench. “Yeah, when we’re not bickering. It’s an open thing,” he added, wondering how unsubtle was too unsubtle. Finn appeared to not pick up on the hint; he just nodded, curiosity apparently satisfied, and Poe heaved an internal sigh. Still, when he got back into his car, he said goodbye to Poe and Rey with a noticeably larger smile than he’d given Poe earlier; Poe elected to take this as a positive note.

After Finn had taken his now-healthy car and left, Rey once again rounded on Poe. “What happened? Did you let him know we’re open?”

“Yeah; I don’t really know if he’s interested or not,” Poe said, running a hand through his hair.

Rey just shrugged. “Well, his car’s pretty shit anyway, so he’ll probably come back at some point.” She leaned into him for a second (she tended to prefer that to hugging while in the workshop, likely due to the high tranfser rate of various black greasy substances) before going back to resume her motorcycle work.

“You could always do the muscle shirt thing,” she suggested in a falsely-light tone.

“I’m not doing the muscle shirt thing,” Poe said, firmly. The weather was still too cold for anything lighter than a tee, and Rey got distracted when he wore less (which, though entertaining and rather flattering, did mean it was harder to actually get work done, as she tended to tale her distraction out on him).

“I’m just saying,” said Rey, in the sort of tone that implied she was most definitely doing more than Just Saying, and that she really meant she was Just Planning On Bullying Poe Into Doing What She Wants.

Poe despaired.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which muscle shirts are worn and Finn is overwhelmed by the bare arms and legs of workplace health and safety misconduct.

Having his car serviced was an enlightening experience, in Finn’s opinion. Of course, it was (presumably) good for his car, but Finn now knew that (a) his mechanics (he wasn’t entirely sure when he stopped thinking of them as “the mechanics” and started thinking “his”) were in a relationship, which would kind of suck if they weren’t (b) in an open relationship, which meant that (c) he could possibly (fingers crossed) have a chance with (c1) rey, with the nose-scrunching smile, (c2) poe, with the head-tipped-back laugh, or (c3) both of them.

Finn had never really considered a three-person relationship before (though, in all fairness, Finn had never had two extremely cute mechanics flirting with him before, either), but given how genuinely nice said mechanics were (on top of being Really attractive), the concept was sounding pretty good.

Problem was, Finn’s car had just been serviced and he was pretty sure it wouldn’t need another one for another year or so. So, unless something went wrong with his car and he had to take it in to get repaired again, he wouldn’t see them again before his next service.

Finn had pondered this for some time. He knew that it was technically wrong to wish for your car to get broken, but maybe a dent? A tiny scrape? A strange rattling noise that could possibly be an excuse to go see them again? He wasn’t really sure any of those would be big enough issues to merit a trip to the mechanic’s. He’d done some research and apparently his insurance covered pretty much everything up to and including spontaneous combustion, so the cost of it wouldn’t really factor in, but still. He did like his car, and intentional damage seemed a little… mean.

This dilemma was quite efficiently solved for him when he discovered that his left headlight wouldn’t turn on. Objectively, Finn knew that his reaction to this could have been a little less cheerful, but as he pulled into the garage lot, he found it hard to be sad.

He received his now-expected greeting from BB-8 when he got out of the car. The round little dog was entirely delighted to see him, and her weird beep-barks had apparently alerted Poe to Finn’s presence, because he stepped out the front door with a smile.

Finn’s jaw dropped. Like, only a little bit, but it definitely dropped because that was a _very_ tight singlet Poe was wearing and _wow_ did his arms look nice.

Finn shut his mouth quite quickly and maybe he’d accidentally swallowed his tongue in the process because when Poe said hello it took him a few moments to regain the capacity for speech.

“Hey, Poe,” he said.

Poe smiled at him. “Is everything ok with your car?”

Ah, yes. Finn’s car, which was why Finn came here, because Finn didn’t come here just to have Poe smile at him. Finn’s car with the headlight. Yes. “Uh, the left headlight’s kind of broken. It’s, uh, not turning on, so.”

“Ah, yep. Bring it into the shop and I’ll let Rey have a look,” Poe suggested, and thank god for clear instructions, because Finn could not stop glancing at Poe’s arms in that shirt. Poe had apparently picked up on this. “While you’re there I’d recommend any questions regarding my clothes be directed to her as well, the _delight_ of a partner that she is.”

Once inside, it turned out that Poe had to do something involving a large amount of oil to a rusty car on the other side of the shop, which meant that Finn was left alone with Rey (who was in shorts so small they were essentially just as bad).

As the headlight just needed to be changed, Finn hung around while Rey tinkered with the car. After a few minutes of small talk (Finn was pretty good at dancing around a subject), he decided to bite the bullet and ask.

“So… Poe’s shirt was you? I mean, Poe said something about how you did something to his clothing, and told me to ask you.” Finn was great at words, usually; that ability apparently vanished somewhat around these two.

Though Rey was facing the other way, her grin was evident in her tone. “I did nothing; BB-8 chewed up most of Poe’s shirts.” This seemed to be at least half true, given the pup in question was lying on the floor beside Finn, gnawing with great determination at some unidentifiable object. “And really, if he didn’t want her to do it he shouldn’t have left his laundry pile out where she could reach it. Can you pass me that flat-headed screwdriver?” she added, waving vaguely behind herself at the bench Finn was leaning on.

It took Finn several minutes of passing Rey the entirely wrong tools before Poe called over that he thought he’d dropped something on the floor when he’d gotten the oil, and that maybe BB-8 had picked it up. Rey’s noise of disgust at the dog-slobber covering the handle of the screwdriver attracted the attention of Poe, who glanced over with look of vindictive glee.

“Poe isn’t very impressed by his current wardrobe choices,” huffed Rey, wiping her hands on her shorts. “But he has absolutely no reason to blame me for it, or to try to exact revenge by letting the dog chew on my _favourite screwdriver_ , Poe, I _know_ you gave that to BB!” She raised her voice towards the end, and Finn thought he heard a snigger from Poe’s direction.

“In all fairness,” Finn whispered to Rey as she put her screwdriver back on the bench (far from the edge), “his arms do look fantastic.”

Rey’s eyes practically sparkled as she grinned. “I know! He pretends to be all shy about it but he’s not, he knows he has great arms and he never shows them off unless I make him. Or his shirts get accidentally chewed up,” she added, quickly. She winked at Finn as she wiped her hands off on her shorts again (Finn’s stomach fluttered), before patting the car’s bonnet. “Anyway, the headlight should be fine now; it just needed changing.”

Before Finn could get into his car, Rey butted her shoulder against his in a friendly gesture. He smiled all the way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pb pbtlbpt sorry for how long this took! i tend to write while i'm in the car but i also hate being made to go places so my creative process is a bit Fucked Up


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Poe is further victimised, body glitter is used as a threat, and there is dancing of questionable ability.

It was Poe’s fourth week of wearing only muscle shirts and Rey could practically feel his disgust: it radiated off him in waves that were almost palpable. He also kept giving her looks that reminded her of a grumpy wet cat. Unfortunately for Poe, she wasn’t exactly able to have BB un-chew his shirts, and anyway, she probably wouldn’t do it even if she could - Finn was right: his arms did look fantastic. And it wasn’t her fault he couldn’t be bothered to go and buy some new shirts, either.

Speaking of Finn, Rey had noticed that he seemed to be becoming quite a regular at the shop. It wasn’t as if she was complaining, of course - Finn had a way of brightening up the shop with his awkward charm, and he was hot (in an sincerely adorable way). But it was a little suspicious that he’d come into the shop three times in as many weeks, especially given that his car’s “problems” were usually kind of odd: his door panel had a strange round dent in it that appeared to be just at knee-height; one of the bolts in his hubcap had come out and he "didn't know if it would compromise the wheel, could they replace it for him, just in case?"; a "thunk" was coming from his boot when he opened it that turned out to be a broken hinge - all things that people would usually ignore or leave until later to do. Rey didn’t want to jump to conclusions or anything, but she had a feeling that Finn wasn’t showing up _just_ out of concern for his car.

Today, Finn was booked in for a suspected punctured tyre. Rey was pretty sure Finn would know if his tyre was punctured, given that it would be getting flat, but he’d just said over the shop’s landline that there was a “weird hissing noise coming from it”. Both Rey and Poe had decided that it would be better for everyone to go along, since they didn’t have much of a chance at seeing (or seducing) Finn outside of the workshop. Also, they were reasonably sure that Finn was manufacturing most of these problems himself as an excuse to see them again (because really, who comes to a mechanic’s because their car boot is clunky?), which was undeniably flattering.

Another highlight of today was the fact that their washing machine had broken down. In and of itself, this wasn’t the greatest thing to have happen, but it was old and temperamental enough that Rey had enough experience to know how to fix most of its tantrums in a few hours. However, as it had broken down mid-cycle, it meant that certain things (including all of Poe’s pants - he didn’t exactly have a lot) were soaking wet and still soapy. And this was the direct cause of Rey’s delight today: Poe had no choice but to reach right to the back of his (very limited) wardrobe and wear a pair of neon-green booty shorts Rey had gotten him last Christmas.

So, today was essentially wonderful: Poe was wearing a tight singlet and tighter green shorts, _and_ Finn was coming in. Rey wondered what his reaction to Poe’s clothes would be, given that each time he came in and saw Poe’s arms, he looked like he was having a small heart attack. Rey had taken to wearing short-shorts as well, which had a similarly entertaining result. Regrettably, he seemed to be building up a tolerance; he'd barely stammered the last time he was at the shop.

To take Poe’s mind off his perceived loss of dignity, Rey had her phone plugged into the mismatched set of speakers, and she’d set her playlist to the sort of obnoxiously saccharine pop songs Poe favoured. Even this seemed to fail to make him brighten up, though; he instead sat on the far side of the workshop, working on the underside of a car with a sulky expression, even when she turned to volume up to a ridiculous level (which had made BB-8 take cover from the noise out in the lot).

As the current song finished, an idea sparked, and she flicked to the soundtrack of one of Poe’s favourite movies. She couldn’t see his face from where she stood at the desk, but there was a telltale loosening in his hunched posture. Rey grinned.

“ _Oh, baby, give me one more chance_ ,” she half-sang, half shouted at Poe. He might have hummed the next part, but the music was deafening. She made her way over to him, dancing to the rest of the chorus, and kicked his chair in time with the music; at his decidedly baleful look, she rolled her eyes, grabbed him by the shoulders, and yanked him up out of the chair.

“ _Trying to live without your love is one long sleepless night_ ,” she continued, grasping his forearms and pushing his around in a sort of jerky-floppy dance. “Let me show you, Poe, that I know wrong from right!”

Poe snorted, loud enough to be audible over the music. “You let BB chew up my shirts; you do _not_ know wrong from right.”

“Shut up and dance, Dameron,” Rey shouted back, waving their arms around in a weird sort of two-person macarena. She could hear Poe laughing even through the din, and she grinned back, glad he had stopped sulking over his attire. She had a feeling it had been mostly theatrics, anyway; Poe was not one to usually be shy about his looks (she’d banned him from using body glitter after one too many episodes involving glitter getting everywhere), so his grump was most likely about the fact that Rey/BB-8 had somewhat forced his hand.

They’d progressed from the weird macarena to an equally unorthodox setup involving Rey waving her arms in the air and spinning in circles while Poe wiggled his hips bizarrely. Rey noted that the effect this movement had was rather interesting, given the tightness of his shorts. As the song began to fade out, Rey’s spinning finally caught up with her and she fell back, dizzy and laughing, onto something that was definitely not the workbench.

She tried to jump up in surprise (not a good idea, given that the room was spinning a little alarming), but was caught by Finn, who had apparently let himself in, given that the hadn’t been able to hear his knocking. He looked half-delighted, half-concerned, as though worried he’d done something wrong or came in at the wrong time but feeling like it was probably worth it.

Rey tipped her head back against his chest and grinned up at him, upside-down and dizzy-drunk. “Hey, Finn. Is your car still squeaking?” She noticed Poe had hidden his lower half (and therefore the green shorts) behind the workbench, and sniggered quietly. Poe ignored her, instead turning the music down to a mumble.

“It’s hissing, actually, in the tyre,” Finn told her. He made no move to push her away from where she leaned on his chest, and she was pretty comfortable (and still rather dizzy), so she stayed where she was. He dangled the keys in front of her with the hand he wasn’t using to lean on the bench; she grabbed them and threw them at Poe.

“Fetch the car, Poe,” she instructed. Poe stuck his tongue out at her, but acquiesced.

As he moved from behind the bench, Finn made a noise like he was choking on his own spit, and Rey sniggered again, rather louder.

“I suppose it was Rey again?” asked Finn.

“The washing machine broke! I had nothing to do with it!”

“You bought these pants, Rey!” Poe looked deeply indignant, but made no effort to move back behind the bench.

Rey snorted, countering, “And just think: if I hadn’t, you wouldn’t’ve had any pants to wear today. Go get the car now, please,” she waved her hand imperiously at him; “I can’t, or I’ll fall over.” This was partially untrue - she was still somewhat dizzy, but she could have done it herself, or asked Finn to do it; however, she was quite comfortable where she was.

As Poe opened the garage door and drove the car inside, Finn looked down at her and grinned. “You have good taste in presents.”

“Stick around a bit longer and I’ll buy you a pair, too,” Rey threatened. She was only half-joking; she had a feeling Finn could rock a pair of booty shorts. Finn’s responding laughter held a slightly nervous edge.

Poe got out of the car and leaned on the bench beside Finn. He gave Rey a shove on her shoulder; heaving a sigh, Rey slouched forward and peered at the offending tyre.

“You said it was this one, Finn?” She thumped the tread with a fist.

“Uh, yeah, that one.”

Rey could detect no discernable noise of any sort, but she straightened up and waved a hand at Poe anyway. “Go get me the jack.”

Rey hopped back up onto the bench next to Finn and watched as Poe went to retrieve the jack from the other end of the workshop. When Poe bent over to pull it from where it was stored, Rey jogged Finn vigorously with her elbow, whispering: “ _Look at him in his tiny pants!_ ”

Finn made a strangled noise, which he quickly turned into a cough as Poe whipped his head around suspiciously. “Are you objectifying me?”

“No!”

“Absolutely.”

Poe huffed.

Once Rey had the car jacked up, she ran her hands over the tyre, feeling for any leaking air. Failing that, she shook her head, glancing back at the boys. “Can’t find anything.”

Poe frowned. “Aren’t you going to use the squirty thing?”

“The squirty thing?” asked Finn, looking mildly alarmed.

“Oh! I forgot about that. Pass me the squirty thing,” Rey commanded, pointing at a spray bottle of surface-cleaner underneath the workbench.

She could feel Finn's bemused expression on her as she thoroughly sprayed the tyre surface with the cleaning fluid. As she examined the treads, Finn spoke up. “What exactly are you trying to do?”

“She’s looking for air bubbles,” Poe explained. “There’s something to do with the surface tension of the cleaner making bubbles which show where there’s an air leak.”

“Ah! Found it!” exclaimed Rey. Then she frowned, turning over her shoulder to look up at Finn critically. “Why is there a thumbtack in your tyre?”

Finn’s eyes widened slightly, but he shrugged. “Must have been on the floor of my garage, or something,” he ventured, in an entirely-too-nonchalant voice.

Poe side-eyed Finn. “You usually keep thumbtacks lying around your garage?”

Now Finn looked a little more panicked. “Uh, no, but I have seen some on the, uh, road, so maybe it was from there?”

Rey found this deeply suspicious, but (uncharacteristically) decided to take pity. “I guess accidents can happen. It’ll take me about half an hour to fix the tyre; if you want to stick around, Poe can get you a coffee?”

Poe looked indignant. “Do I look like a butler to you? ‘Poe, get this; Poe, fetch that; Poe, bring the car around’!”

“In those shorts?” asked Rey. “More like some sexed-up pool boy.”

“‘ _Sexed-up_ ’? Don’t make me get the body glitter; I'll _show you_ sexed-up,” threatened Poe.

“Body glitter?” said Finn, intrigued.

Rey looked stricken (and a little bit delighted) at the thought of Finn bearing witness to Poe's glitter obsession. “I banned body glitter for a reason! Now go get the boy some coffee, or I’ll call you Slutty Jeeves for the rest of the week.”

Finn sputtered with laughter. Poe apparently didn't see fit to respind; he just slouched off to the near-defunct coffee machine, grumbling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poe likes guardians of the galaxy and bubblegum pop and i will fight for this 
> 
> (the song rey's singing is "i want you back" by jackson five, which is surprisingly excellent writing music)


End file.
